AROUND THE BAY 2008

When I ran this race last year, I was at the top of my game... I knew this year would be a totally different story...

I'm not going to make this LSD-race report long. I had the chance to run with 2 friends, one for the first 15K, then 10K by myself (but still talking to strangers lol) and the last 4-5 K or so with another maniac friend. I took 2 Anacin during the race so that my plantar fasciitis wouldn't bother me, it was a wise choice as I didn't feel any pain or calf cramping. My legs were just overall fatigued from the rolling hills. Altough I said to myself I wouldn't be disappointed with my time, I kinda are, I finished 20 mins slower than last year.I guess they are also right about the rule that each pound adds 1 mins to your time... I am 20 lbs heavier this year!

This stays my favorite race, I love everything about it and the weather was fantastic this year... except for the 30-35 Km/h winds ;-)

Oh yeah I wanted to say that near the end of the race, I meet with a French speaking 72 years old man, who was finishing his 27th Around the Bay race and I found him really inspiring! =)

The stats

SORENESS!

Today is the first day that I'm finally not sore. Wow that hadn't happen to me since last marathon training... maybe I'm pushing it a little! ;-)

Tuesday 3.1 miles @ 11:57 min/mile (with Flashy)
Wednesday 3.1 miles @ 10:52 min/mile (with Rocky)

I wasn't suppose to run today since I'm tapering but it was so gorgeous: 10°C and sunny that I didn't want to let this go. Also, a friend from runningmania.com who has cancer asked that we dedicate our run to her today so I wanted to do that for her.

I'm still suffering from plantar fascitis but its been less painful since I've been back to the chiropractor for 2 appts. I'm really hoping I won't have any issues on sunday. Anyhow, I'm running the 30K with 3 friends, taking it easy and not worrying with time! I'm sure its going to be lots of fun. I'm looking forward to it =)

Have a good rest of week! I'm only going to blog again for the race report on Monday!

Special Request
MARTY IF YOU'RE READING THIS, PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT AND TELL ME HOW YOU ARE, AND THE MONSTERS, AND THE WIFE, AND THE RUNNING! WE MISS YOU IN BLOG LAND!!!!!!!!

A BAD LSD...

I guess these things happen but when you're about to run 30K you'd prefer they would all be great!! Truthfully, I'm a little depressed.... so when I ran 13 miles last week @ 11:48 min/mile, it was hard but there was no way I wasn't finishing it.

Today was suppose to be 15-16 miles or 3h whichever would come first. I could feel I wasn't into it as soon as I started... bad news. I kept on trying but my mind wasn't into it. It was the slowest I've ever been 12+ min per miles almost the entire way and then around mile 11 my knee started to hurt (my calf was solid rock) and I had to walk several times (13+ and 14+ min per miles for the last 2 miles!). I felt like my legs were made of lead and didn't want to move forward.

So in the end, with lots of self pep-talk, I did 13.5 miles in 2h48 @ 12:29 min/mile. I'm not questionning my desire to run the 30K but I'm questionning my ability to do it (in a good time). The fact is, the training has been sporadic and sometime inexistant and I know I'm far away from last year's shape. I will not make it close to a time I'd like but I do think I could make it to the end line with some walking. Fortunately, I have friends who are willing to run it with me so I wouldn't be alone.

I'm going to get some A.R.T. done on my knee/calf tomorrow and see what my chiropractor says. I do not want to risk an injury for this race. I have a fall marathon to train for ;-)

Anyway, thanks for reading all my ramblings!!

Happy Easter! Joyeuses Pâques!

OUCH IT HURTS!!

So...... I ran 13 miles today!! The birds were singing, the sun was shining, the snow was melting, yadi yadi yada until mile 9! Cardio was holding on but the legs were tired and heavy + my knee started to act up. But I finished in 2h33 @ 11:48 min/mile. Glad to be done but it looks like this 30K (18.64 miles!!) race coming up will be hard on my body! At least I'm running it with a friend....

I DID IT! THESIS HAS BEEN SUBMITTED!

I did the unthinkable.......... I submitted my thesis 24h in ADVANCE, yes you read right! While most people can't even submit theirs on time, I gave mine a day before! I was all done on Monday night at 7 P.M. =) And pretty proud as you can see! lol My committee has one week to review and accept it and then it will be sent to the external (from U. of Manitoba).

So, I've been on the "party" since then.... lots of beer! I feel like I am on vacation until the defense... which is far from the truth since I still have to study and submit my 4th article which will be derived from the last chapter of my thesis.

I tried very hard to get a picture of Rocky with a graduation hat but no treats could make him sit still with that thing on his head! So, here's the best shot....

I also ran 2 times this week (yeah!) and don't feel like I lost TOO much fitness (great!) so I'm still going to attempt running ATB 30K later this month. I have already decided that I will be running with a friend and taking it slow so no pressure to perform....

Tuesday 3 miles @ 11:39 min/mile

Thursday 4.5 miles @ 10:58 min/mile

SURVIVED MY LAST THESIS-MADNESS WEEK-END

I'm exhausted though, so just wanted to keep you guys in the loop... I've written 15 pages in 2 days, my brain is mush.... It's due Tuesday so until then, not much sleep will be had. This truly feels like a marathon journey!!

MY FIRST DNS.....

After a disastrous 2.6 miles run on Thursday (i.e. I had to stop in the middle to eat some snow... because my crazy coughing made my throat all dry) I decided not to run the Chilly Half this week-end... I'm disappointed, this is the first time I sign up for a race and Do Not Show up.... I know I took the right decision it is just hard to accept. Anyhow, there will be tons of races in my future and better get healthy before I do another half!

Good luck to Francis who is in California to (perharps?) BQ!

Have a good week-end everyone =)

OKAY... SO ITS WEDNESDAY AND STILL NO RUNNING...

I'm having winter-thesis blues. It's pretty bad. We set my defense date for April 15 which is coming at lighting speed for those wondering!! Especially since the thesis needs to be finished 5 weeks prior to the actual defense (i.e. Freakin March 11!).

So, my head is a big mess and my bronchitis is taking its slow-ass time to leave. I had to go back to the doctor today and get stronger cough syrup and an inhaler (like they give to ashtmatic peeps). So, yeah, running has been the least of my problem lately.

I wanted to go for a run yesterday but we've been hit by another stupid snowstorm and its minus crazy mental degree outside! This is getting old and there is no spring in sight!?! Blech, I'm in a bad mood!!

So, yeah running plans for tonight are 2 miles but I really don'T feel like it, hence why I'm sitting on the cough writing this instead of being outside.... anyhow, the pooch is waiting for his walk! So, I gotta go!

Hope you're all surviving the weather!!

BRONCHITIS...

No running until Monday/Tuesday as per Doctor's order and this is definitely jeopardizing my half on March 2nd. Can I write how much this sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SERIOUSLY.... SERIOUSLY?!

Every time I get back in the groove of things, I'm hit with another health issue! This has been going on since last August now.... I'm getting pretty frustrated and angry at the situation. I know this one is not a huge issue but still.

I've had my first week of 5 running days with a total of 27 miles and I was doing pretty well working on my thesis too. I had a 12h night of sleep on Saturday but just tought it was from exhaustion not getting sick! And this morning at 3:30AM, I started coughing and a sore throat woke me up. Now, I can't get back to sleep.... grrr and its a Holiday, I could have slept in! Sooooo mad!

I blame it all on the stupid weather we've been having, -20 °C one day and +10 °C the other. No wonder we're all screwed up!!! Anyway end of my rant right here... I'm drinking hot lemon tea right now and gobbing lots of cold and sinus medecine... hopefully I won't get it too too bad!

Total miles for the week-end:
Saturday 11 miles @ 11:20 min/mile
Sunday 3.1 miles @ 10:52 min/mile

Happy Family Day everyone! (I wish my family was here)

WRITING, RUNNING AND STRESSING...

What a week! You'll definitely hear about my high stress level in the upcoming weeks... I just finished my 3rd article to be submitted on Tuesday and that represents one chapter of my thesis. This means that I have met the minimum requirements of my program to graduate (1 published, 2 submitted!) =) My Boss still wants me to write another one but it doesn't have to be "journal-ready" for the defense. I'm doing relatively well but still needs lot of running time to keep my sanity! I want to get back to 5 days of running per week in preparation for Around the Bay.

I ran twice with people this week and I loved it!! Wednesday was, Flashy and I's weekly Fun-Run and we did 4 miles. Last night, I would have probably ended up sitting on the couch all night feeling miserable due to Single Awareness Day (aka Valentine's Day) so having planned a run with Flashy, her BF and an office-mate was awesome! Rocky tagged along for that 6.5 miles and he rocked it! I was so proud of my little Dude =)

I have put on some weight since the beginning of this thesis writing and I am feeling a lot slower, it might be mental but overall I feel bad for putting some weight back on (I had so much problem getting rid of it...) One day at a time, I keep repeating to myself.....

Here's last week in review:
Tuesday 2.4 miles @ 10:57 min/mile
Wednesday 4 miles @ 12:01 min/mile (Fun Run with Flashy and Rocky)
Thursday 6.5 miles @ 12:01 min/mile (V-D Group Run)

Have a good long week-end everyone!

TOUGH OR CRAZY?

-30 °C with windchill
60 km/h wind
3.1 miles
37:05 min

So, tough or crazy? You tell me!!!

9 ON THE 9th: SWEETHEART SHUFFLE RACE REPORT

I was reading Marcy's blog last night and saw that she participated in a "virtual race" organized by Nancy. Since I hadn't decided on a length for my LSD, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and go for 9 miles. I participated in my first ever virtual race! =)

It was hard! Most streets are not plowed here but it was slushy enough that the yak trax were not needed so I took them off at mile 2. With the fuel belt already underneath my coat and the yak trax in my pockets, I looked like a pregnant (or overweight) runner... nice! It was grey and raining, I wasn't in the best mood, but I'm glad its done! I would have bailed earlier if it wasn't for that "virtual race".

The facts

9 miles in 1h43 (11:32 min/mile average)

Mile 1 @ 11:35 min/mile

Mile 2 @ 11:50 min/mile

Mile 3 @ 11:46 min/mile

Mile 4 @ 11:33 min/mile

Mile 5 @ 11:41 min/mile
Mile 6 @ 11:23 min/mile
Mile 7 @ 11:43 min/mile
Mile 8 @ 11:19 min/mile

Mile 9 @ 10:56 min/mile (Very happy to be done....)

This is my first time using Google Earth to map one of my run (load from the Garmin) it looks pretty neat!

THERE IS NO BAD RUNNING WEATHER!!

This is the speech I was giving one of my non-running friend today as she called me crazy for running in 4 inch of fresh snow. My friend Flashy and I decided to do our weekly "Fun-Run" on Wednesday and this was the day of , yet, another winter storm.... nice! We headed out at 7:30 PM, the snow was falling, it was so peaceful. The run, though, was less than peaceful! So freakin hard to run in 4 inch of snow! We managed 3.1 miles in 44:15 and when we stopped we both felt leg tiredness and butt stiffyness! lol We thought we were pretty hardcore as we didn't see any walkers and only one other c-r-a-z-y runner!!

We stopped in the middle to take some pics but it was pretty dark.

Me and Rocky with Detroit in the background

Flashy running towards the Ambassador Bridge!

BACK TO REALITY....

And its not pretty. I'm so stressed... In one day, I go through several panic attacks thinking that I will never finish, to writing a nice paragraph and thinking this is going really well and then back to intense stress when I can't figure something out.... I'm an emotional mess! And I think I might be driving my advisor crazy!!

I had my first run post-race today, a little 2 miler (splits are 9:52 and 9:44) but it felt great and fast.

I wanted to have a positive race report so I didn't mention my numerous accidents in Miami. After the race, I had a very big and nasty blister on the bottom of my feet +2 on my little toes and I could barely put my own weight on my foot. The day after the race, I was walking on the beach and stepped over a corral and ended up breaking my toenail in two, right in the middle!! And that wasn't one of the nasty toenails that I had lost previously, no no, it was one of the nice looking ones. This hurt soooooooooo bad. On my last day in Miami, I went for breakfast with my parents and ended up splitting my foot open (about 1 inch)under a metal table.... it was a mix of slippery floor and crocs fault!! Can I tell you that my parents were afraid to leave me alone in the end!!! lol

So, all of these issues preventend me from running for 8 long days. Well, how can you run when you're already limping and in pain from wearing shoes?!

Kids, be safe don't do like me!!

WELCOME TO MIAMI, BUENVENIDOS A MIAMI!

"Miami uh uh
South beach bringin the heat uh

Haha can yall feel that

Can yall feel that

Jig it out uh"

The race started with this song by Will Smith (Miami) with 10 400 runners jigging to it the atmosphere was pretty wild!! I was going into this race just wishing to have fun and not look at the time... ya right the competitive person I am won and I decided to try for even splits of 10:30 min/mile for the whole half.

As Laurel said in her last post, once you've done a marathon you kinda lose respect for the half or at least think this distance is not important considering you've doubled it and not died! So, I wasn't very nervous heading into the race, as I said many times to my mom: "It's only a half!" and she replied that it was still a big achievement nonetheless. I think she was right and I got a little emotional once I heard the gun start, I was happy to be able to run a half. That is something most of mortals won't do in their life and this was my 6th half-marathon =) I wasn't sure if my ankle would hold up but I didn't have any issues with it. It took me 7 mins to cross the starting line, there was definitely more runners than for Detroit.

Before the race with my parents:

The race was pretty much effortless until mile 9. I hadn't done a race at that pace in ages... like months! But I thought I could hold on to that pace for 13.1 miles?! What the heck was wrong with me? lol

I got new shoes over Christmas and should have updates my socks at the same time, they are solely responsible for my blisters (all on my bigger foot). I had to repeat and repeat to myself when it got hard that it was mental and not physical (even though I barely believed it!). I slowed down a little but tried to pick it up as soon as I noticed a slow down. In the end, I am pretty proud of the way I raced considering the training involved before this race.

I loved the race course, it was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!! The first part running up the road near Biscane Bay with the Palm trees and we could hear the parrots in the trees were simply awesome. I thought it was kinda surreal with the helicopter from Homeland Security too. Once we were arrived in South beach the crowd support was fantastic and really pumped me up (might explain that 10:18 min/mile!). I just truly enjoyed this race, the weather, the crowd both on and off course and would definitely do it again. I know we got "lucky" since it was a cooler day and it barely rained for the half but I think I would have still loved it even if it had been warmer or raining (as crazy as last year's sounded with what Laurel told me!). Racing to the finish was frustrating and very motivating at the same time. You can hear the crowd and you think you're close but there are a lot of turns and I was giving a lot of speed and finally ran out for the final stretch!! My parents said it looked like I was having a hard time near the end and it was close to the truth!! But when I heard them shouting my name and waving big: "Go Sonia signs". I waved back and went for it!! =) What a boost seeing your family can do for you.

I was so touched to read her blog when I got back home. I think she put in words way better than I could do how our meeting went. It was definitely like meeting an old friend and we had a lot to say to each other. I was disappointed not to have more time and sit down for a drink. For sure next time =)

The facts:

13.1 miles in 2:21:44

Mile 1: 10:57 min/mile

Mile 2: 10:37 min/mile

Mile 3: 10:36 min/mile

Mile 4: 10:35 min/mile

Mile 5: 10:18 min/mile

Mile 6: 10:40 min/mile

Mile 7: 10:28 min/mile

Mile 8: 10:34 min/mile

Mile 9: 10:55 min/mile (Getting tired and blistered!)

Mile 10: 11:00 min/mile (only mile at 11 min!)11 min

Mile 11: 10:59 min/mile

Mile 12: 10:59 min/mile

Mile 13: 10:18 min/mile (pushing it hard! Crowd support and seeing my parents helped!)

0.24: 10:35 min/mile

The Best way to end the day: AT THE BEACH WITH MY DAD!!!

I'M IN LOVE!!!!

With Miami!!! I love the beach!! The race was great, the course is breathtaking. I loved it. Finished in 2:21:44 and had to give a big effort from Mile 9-13.1. But finished strong. I only had one mile with a pace of 11 min /mile. All the rest was 10:XX min/mile!

I also meet with Laurel! She's so great! I will put more details once I am back in Canada!

Hope you are all doing well

MY FAVORITE PLACE: THE BEACH

So, I'm off to Miami tonight! I cannot wait to be in the warm weather and sitting on the beach!! =) I think I brought all I need (sunblock, sunglasses, sundresses... etc. ;-) hahaha)

Today the weather is highly disgusting (-23 oC with windchill) sooooo I'm loving this little escape from winter! I ran 2.5 miles on Tuesday and kinda hurt my foot... it was like my ankle froze and then when I took the next step, I kinda heard a crack and it hurt. After running for a little bit it got better but not back to normal... After icing it that night and the next day, it felt a little better so I wanted to test it for a short run (3.1 miles) on Thursday. The ankle did not hurt but it didn't feel "normal" or like usual. sigh... I'm just hoping it won't bother me during the half-marathon. Anyhow! I'm leaving soon and I'll catch up with all of you bloggers when I come back!! Except for Laurel who I will meet during my Miami stay!!! =)

Happy Running!

ALIVE AND KICKING!

The stomach bug finally got away, I stopped the intense vitamins mix I was on and tried to lower my stress level. All of this combined was not good for my health!! But I had a good running week:

Tuesday 4 miles @ 11:25 min/mile
Thursday 3 miles @ 11:18 min/mile
Saturday 8 miles @ 11:38 min/mile

I had an interesting run on Thursday.... I am dog-sitting a 80 lbs golden retriver/husky for a friend. I didn't want to miss my run so I decided to try and run with both dogs with Rocky attached on my waist while I hold the other leash. I made my way to our Riverfront path as I decided it wouldn't be the best idea to run in the middle of the streets with 100 lbs of dogs! Fritz is the sweetest dog ever but he's also very nervous...he had diarrhea all over is bum-fur and I realised I had poppy-bags who had defects (meaning it wasn't a bag but a sheet of plastic!!) GRRR I was fuming. I decided that I would take care of "that" after the run and tried to get in a better mood... right then a pigeon shitted on my head! Seriously?! Does life get any better? I think not! At that point, I wanted to forget about the run, thought I had enough of this madness but we were at the beginning of the trail and I wanted to see if I could run with both dogs. The answer is yes, and it was a great run! Rocky was going faster to keep up with his buddy (male are so competitive!) and never pulled me from one side to the other like he usually do. =)
Today's run was insanely cold, we usually never get weather like that here, it was -20 with windchill, WTH is going on!! I kept thinking: "6 days and you're in Miami, 6 days and you're in Miami, ON THE BEACH!"

Happy running everyone!

STUCK IN A SICKNESS VORTEX!!!!

Well Ken couldn't have said it better :" You know what happens when we have plans... Something seems to creep in".

Yep it does. To make a long story short, I started having this stomach-intestinal bug for about a week now. I tried to get rid of it with pills but its not working. So, after I called the Healthline last night. The man-nurse told me to forget about sugar and fat for 2 days. I'm allowed to eat rice, potatoes, soup and chicken. Some easy digestible things like canned fruits and yogourt. Fun times.

So, I'm not so sure about that 12 miler anymore =( This sucks, so tired to be sick!!

I did run 4 miles last night in 45:06, it was pretty windy and I gave in a good effort. I'm thinking Sunday might be a better day for my run if I feel better by then. Who knows???

On the bright side, this is my fur-baby's birthday! He's 4 years old today and it's also the anniversary of his adoption by me, 2 full years of love =)